Building Capacity, Building Community: How CPCA’s New Program is Shaping Emergency Readiness in CHCs Across California
The strength of any emergency response is in its people. The California Primary Care Association (CPCA) remains committed to ensuring that community health centers (CHCs) are not only delivering high-quality care every day but are also fully equipped to respond when crisis strikes. That’s why CPCA is investing in practical training, peer learning, and opportunities to build emergency management capacity across CHCs.
In response to growing demand, CPCA has developed EMERGENCYMANAGEMENT+, a new training cohort program focused on building emergency management capacity within California CHCs. This initiative is the first of its kind to deliver a consistent, vetted, and CHC-specific emergency preparedness training program for staff who are often tasked with this critical work alongside other responsibilities.
Recognizing that emergency management is a rapidly evolving field with increasing demands, CPCA used targeted grant funding to convene an advisory committee of CHC peers to shape the content, format, and audience of this course. To support the process, CPCA partnered with Westward Disaster Consultancy, an emergency preparedness consulting firm, to facilitate a series of structured meetings and compile insights into a comprehensive concept paper and curriculum outline.
The EMERGENCYMANAGEMENT+ program is designed for a diverse audience of CHC staff across California with emergency preparedness and management duties—regardless of formal title or experience level. In fact, one of the program’s goals is to foster peer learning and collaboration by bringing together individuals with varying levels of expertise.
EMERGENCYMANAGEMENT+ officially launched its pilot cohort in March 2025 with 19 participants from CHCs throughout California via a fully virtual format to prioritize flexibility and accessibility. The program was composed of seven sessions: three live virtual sessions spaced over several weeks, and four on-demand modules. Live sessions were structured to promote interaction, best practice sharing, and cohort-building.
Feedback from participants included praise for its relevant, health center-specific resources, supportive learning environment, and highly knowledgeable instructors. The live sessions and scenario-based exercises were cited as especially impactful in bridging regulatory requirements with practical application.
“The amount of resources specific to health centers, the level of experiences in the cohort, being able to hear everyone's experiences was extremely beneficial, the knowledge level of the instructors was incredible. I enjoyed hearing everyone's experiences because while sometimes it did make me feel that I was behind, it did give me hope that others have been in my same position before and are willing to provide guidance.”
- Alexis Duenas, Marin Community Clinics
Several participants noted that the course helped them feel less isolated in their roles, offering a space to connect with peers, share challenges, and build a supportive professional network. The optional technical assistance sessions were also well received, providing reassurance, personalized guidance, and actionable strategies to advance preparedness efforts within their organization.
With the launch of EMERGENCYMANAGEMENT+, CPCA aims to both build individual capacity and also cultivate a community of practice among health center emergency managers statewide.
Cohort 2 will be launching Fall 2025. If you’d like to learn more about the program or sign up to receive early notice when the next application cycle opens, visit the EMERGENCYMANAGEMENT+ webpage.